Budget hearing draws debate

WELLS — The Wells-Ogunquit Community School District Board held a public hearing on April 8 to present the proposed $23.2 million FY '15 budget for the district.

Ann Charlton

WELLS — The Wells-Ogunquit Community School District Board held a public hearing on April 8 to present the proposed $23.2 million FY '15 budget for the district.

About 30 members of the public attended the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting there was time for public comment on the proposed budget. The first to comment was Karen Westerberg, the librarian at the Wells Elementary School. Westerberg spoke to the board about the proposed cut of the library ed tech position.

"The value of this position to students and teachers far outweighs the minimal cost savings that would be realized," she said.

Westerberg listed the duties associated with the library ed tech position which includes being responsible for circulation and cataloguing of books, assisting students with checking out books while the librarian is busy with classes, provides tech support for art, music, computer and physical education, assists with kindergarten 45 minutes a day, and provides 30 minutes of tutoring daily.

Westerberg noted that she had been told that volunteers will be utilized to assist with some of the circulation duties in the library. She also said that when there was not a volunteer available she will help the students checkout their books.

"If I am busy at the circulation desk then I can't help students find good fit books that they want to read," she said. "This is a disservice to the elementary school children of this town."

The only other person to speak during the public comment period was Wells Junior High School Librarian Lynn Mercier.

"I'm really concerned about servicing the students," she said.

She said she is interested in working with the superintendent and the school board to find a solution that will ensure students and teachers receive the support they need.

Marc Saulnier, WOCSD School Committee chairman, closed the public hearing by saying, "we're going to take everything that was said tonight with great consideration. We're going to research it. We're going to go through it one or two more times before we make our final decision on the positions."

Superintendent Ellen Schneider said she wanted to provide some clarity regarding the library ed tech positions. She said that after meeting with each librarian and their respective principals, it was her understanding that the library ed tech spent up to three hours a day in the library with the remainder of their time spent assisting outside the library.

"We're dedicated to providing a dedicated ed tech for a portion of each day in the library for those skills you might not want to give to a volunteer," she said.

She said it wouldn't be three hours, but would be up to an hour and a half. In addition, Principal Chris Chessie was looking at revamping next year's schedule so that Mercier would be able to spend more time in her library.

"I know it's an adjustment. We will certainly be working with the librarians to help in any way that we can," Schneider said. "We feel we can do this without impacting our students."

Schneider said that WOCSD has a very robust volunteer program and has no doubt that the libraries needs will be met.

Schneider said Wednesday that six positions are being eliminated in the proposed FY '15 budget, but no one will lose their job. The six positions include: two library ed techs, two collaborative content specialists, one high school secretary who is retiring and whose position will not be filled, and one position for the Family Consumer Science program, which is being eliminated. Schneider said that there is no longer a certification available in the state for this program. Some of the skills taught in the program will now be taught in health. The cuts are projected to save the district $349,000.

Under the proposed budget, Wells is looking at an increase of $.64 per thousand and Ogunquit is looking at $.24 increase per thousand. So for a $300,000 home, it works out to be $191.89 or $15.99 per month and for Ogunquit it is $69.90 or $5.83 per month. The total increase to the budget is $1,310,869.50 or 6 percent. Debt service increase makes up the majority of the increase ($832,287.91 or 3.80 percent), increased salary and benefits are $307,344.78 or 1.40 percent, increase in food service subsidy is $40,000 or $0.60 percent.

There will be a School Committee meeting on April 16. It is anticipated that the committee will adopt the budget on that date.

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